Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix

Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix

As the most popular kid's show on PBS, <I>Arthur and Friends</I> has succeeded through the sheer amount of personality, charm, and chutzpah embodied by its all-too-human animal cartoon characters. With <I>Arthur's Really Rockin' Music</I>, the whole cartoon gang explores the richness of world music, so that the CD is equal parts instructive, fun, kid-friendly, and at times just plain goofy. "Two Sides of the Story," sung by Arthur's family in country & western basics, lets kids know how the truth often has more than one point of view, while D.W.'s "Has Anyone Seen My Invisible Friend?" will provoke the giggles and inspire Cajun parties with its animated zydeco attack. From global music such as the tango to fundamental rhythm and blues to the techno remix of the show's Ziggy Marley theme song to Buster's jazzy lounge complaint "I Can't Snap My Fingers," Arthur and company provide an almost pristine foil to their noisy commercial cousins on children's television. Add to that D.W.'s precocious rock cover of the Pretenders tough "Brass in Pocket," and the antics of "My Brain" (it has a "mind of its own..."), and Arthur and Friends gives a hearty theatrical performance that your younger compatriots shouldn't miss. <I>--Martin Keller</I>